Disasters

"Fifty-seven former government scientists and public health officials of both parties called on Monday for a science-based approach to the coronavirus pandemic and criticized the Trump administration for marginalizing science and expertise in its response."

"More than 5,600 companies in the fossil fuel industry have taken a minimum of $3bn in coronavirus aid from the US federal government, according to an analysis by Documented and the Guardian of newly released data."

"The EPA’s biggest union will enter into bargaining with the agency July 13 for a week of talks about rapidly developing plans to reopen offices, according to the American Federation of Government Employees."

Racial disparities in who contracts the virus have played out in big cities like Milwaukee and New York, but also in smaller metropolitan areas like Grand Rapids, Mich., where the Bradleys live."

"A sewage-based coronavirus test could be an 'easy win' that would pick up infection spikes up to 10 days earlier than with existing medical-based tests."

"Dust storms—those billowing walls of sand and dirt often seen seen in the more arid regions of the world—doubled in the American Southwest between the 1990s to 2000s." "Respiratory ICU admissions spike in the wake of such storms, which are becoming more common across the American Southwest."

"Extreme weather has contributed to the vast blazes – with the pandemic complicating the emergency response."